New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the International Big Cats Alliance (IBCA) on Sunday, government sources said on Saturday.
IBCA will focus on the protection and conservation of seven major big cats of the world — Tiger, Lion, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Puma, Jaguar and Cheetah. The launch of the alliance follows the clarion call given by PM Modi in July 2019, calling for an alliance of global leaders to curb poaching and illegal wildlife trade in Asia.
PM Modi’s strong belief and vision to save wildlife and crack down on poachers have translated into action by the Centre in this direction. Wide-ranging efforts in this direction have positively impacted the country’s wildlife.
Since 2014, there has been an increase in the population of big cats in India, with the tiger count increasing by 33 per cent from 2,226 in 2014 to 2,967 in 2018.
The latest figures on the tiger population will be released by PM Modi on April 9.
Strong conservation management and robust protection have also resulted in a 29 per cent increase in the population of lions in Gujarat’s Gir forest (674 in 2020, up from 523 in 2015).
The widely distributed Leopard population has seen an increase of about 63 per cent (from 7910 in 2014 to 12,852 in 2018).
Driven by PM Modi’s vision, the country successfully achieved the world’s first-ever, wild-to-wild transcontinental translocation of a big cat (Cheetah) in 2022, in a bid to revive the species in India years after its extinction.
A key aspect of the government’s effort is to positively impact the wildlife population through conservation efforts. A parallel aspect is a crackdown on poaching.
The efforts bore fruit last year with not a single poaching of rhinos reported in Assam.